Evaluating the impact of a Technology Toolkit delivering Web 2.0 resources to develop key 21st century skills

5/27/2013

Lisa Donaldson – D12122623

Lisa Donaldson – D12122623

Evaluating the impact of a Technology Toolkit delivering Web 2.0 resources to develop key 21st century skills

Introduction

This research proposal seeks to explore and evaluate the impact of a Technology Toolkit, developed

utilising the rapid elearning tool Captivate, and offered to a number of lecturers at the National

College of Ireland (NCI) and Dublin Institute of Technology (DIT). The resource will assist lecturers in

using technology tools such as Twitter and Wikis which have specifically been chosen to assist

students develop the 21st Century skills of Communication and Collaboration. These skills are a

subset of a wider set of skills promulgated as success factors for students and as a requirement for

future economic development.

The resource will be introduced to the lecturers via an initial workshop and thereafter used online.

The skills of the lecturer and their perceptions of technology usage will be examined at discrete

points during the study to ascertain their abilities and attitudes towards the integration of

technology into classroom activities. This case study involves the implementation of one online

resource but examination will provide rich description of the impact of this on their pedagogy as well

as illustrating the efficacy of the Technology Toolkit itself. The boundary of the research and ultimate

selection of the tools to include is predicated by an initiative I have been asked to lead at NCI.

Context and Rationale

The motivation for my research in this field stems from being involved in running technical training

events for educators over the last two years across two different educational institutions. My

experience is that whilst the lecturers I’ve worked with are extremely competent within their field of

expertise, their technical skills were often lacking. This dearth of first-hand information technology

knowledge meant that these lecturers were unable to innovate and adapt their pedagogy to best

engage 21st century students.

My initial literature review highlighted many articles showing the scale of thought on the importance

of including technology education into teachers education. The Korean, Australian and American

governments support national programmes to upskill their new teachers. An Irish Times article

(2013) refers to these and other initiatives and draws the comparison to Ireland’s educational

system where our teachers are limited in their technical skills and thus our educational system lacks

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innovation and flexibility at a key time to produce students with 21 st century competencies to

stimulate economic growth in Ireland.

Technology can serve as an enabler and motivator for these 21 st century students. Pearlman (2010)

states that it is technology and new learning environments that enable 21 st century skills. This is

echoed in the report from the 21st Century Literacy Summit (2002) where they advocate that

“information and communication technologies are raising the bar on the competencies needed to

succeed in the 21st century”. Therefore it is imperative that educators are able to understand and

utilise a range of tools to complement and augment their teaching practice and to foster 21st

century abilities such as Communication, Critical Thinking, Collaboration and Creativity within their

students.

In the 21st century the pace of change, advances in technology and accumulation of information has

never been greater. At a seminar I attended in 2012 by Ferdinand Von Prondzynski, he highlighted

the fact that almost every other industry has changed dramatically since the industrial era with the

exception of teaching, which still tends to use very traditional methods of delivery. This comment

immediately rang true for me. Prensky (2001) has stated that educators may fall into the Digital

Immigrant category, White & Le Cornu (2011) have instead argued that they may be Digital Visitors.

Both theories refer to a lack of technical skills and a difference in perception of technology on the

part of lecturers in comparison to their students. A key question for me here is, is it a lack of ability,

a lack of vision or a lack of professional development that is the driver for these categorisations ? I

hope to be a position to answer this as part of this research.

Objectives

There is a rapidly growing body of literature espousing that students today need 21st century skills.

The research that I propose to conduct will identify these skills based on an examination of the

primary frameworks for 21st century skills. Furthermore, based on Churches’ Digital Taxonomy and

other seminal research, I will map the most appropriate technology tools that can help educators to

deliver these skills.

The learning resource in fulfilment of the requirements for the M.Sc. in eLearning will be based on

the findings above and provide a repository of tools and best practice methodologies to scaffold

educators learning around integrating technologies to innovate teaching practice and assist students

develop these 21st century skills. The learning resource will then be offered to a small number of

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educators at NCI and DIT and the complexities and dynamic interactions between the educator and

the resource will be observed and analysed. My aim with this exploration is to examine the impact of

introducing new digital literacies on educators’ abilities and attitudes whilst examining the efficacy of

the Technology Toolkit resource itself. This will form my research question.

I expect my findings to provide insight to a number of areas:

The ability and readiness of educators to utilise technology tools in the classroom. I’m

particularly interested to examine if the debate between Digital immigrants vs Digital natives

and it’s more recent incarnation as Digital Residents vs Visitors is realised in the course of

the study

The degree of integration of technology by the study participants as measured by the

technology integration model – LOTI by Dr Christopher Moersch (1994)

The efficacy of the resource to upskill and educate lecturers.

Methods

My research approach can be imagined as a funnel - my research starts by identifying the broad

landscape of 21st century skills and it then narrows to map pedagogically sound technology tools

which may assist with these skills. The resulting resource (technology toolkit) will then be deployed

to a chosen cohort of educators and a narrow focus will be applied to the analysis of its

implementation – an exploration of lecturers attitudes to and abilities with these new literacies. I

propose to follow case study principles believing this to be most appropriate to my research aims.

Bell (1999) states

“The case study approach is particularly suited to individual researchers because it gives an

opportunity for one aspect of a problem to be studied in some depth within a limited time

scale”

A case study methodology will allow me to focus on various interactive aspects of this one instance -

the implementation of a resource to support lecturers utilising web 2.0 tools to introduce new

literacies and mediums of communication including any barriers to its adoption. Case study research

will enable me to build a holistic description of events and activities relevant to this implementation

and perform multiple levels of analysis within this single study (Eisenhardt , 1989). These explorations

will include an evaluation of the impact of my learning resource, the technology tools it introduces,

and their impact on lecturers.

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This exploratory research will include quantitative information measuring lecturers’ skills before and

after using the resource, as well as qualitative information regarding the impact on the lecturers

experience and abilities after exposure to new mediums for communication and collaboration. The

methods used to collect this information include a workshop meeting and an initial questionnaire to

ascertain technology ability levels towards same. These technical abilities will be queried again via

questionnaire at the end of the case study. The questionnaires used will be trialled and evaluated by

a control group not part of the study prior to launch.

Furthermore, I will examine the subsequent mind-set and perceptions of the lecturers towards

utilising technology aids in the classroom through interviews and a focus group study which will be

conducted to explore issues in more depth. Dr. Christopher Moersch (1994) developed the Levels of

Technology Implementation (LoTi) scale in as an attempt to determine authentic classroom

technology use. I will use this scale to assist my understanding of the degree of technology

integration within the group based on the results of the lecturer questionnaires and interviews.

Classroom observations may also be used. These different methods capture the concept of a case

study where they are used to triangulate findings and provide rich descriptions from different angles

(Johannson, 2003). My aim is to observe and understand the impact of technology tools and gain

insight as to the existence of a digital divide with this subset rather than to generalise beyond the

boundaries of the study.

I will seek to provide a chronological narrative of events relevant to the case (Cohen et al, 2007) with rich

description and analysis to answer my research goals of understanding attitudes to and degree of integration

of technology tools within a specified group of lecturers.. The technology toolkit developed may subsequently

be used as part of another M.Sc. project to provide threshold learning for students as part of an Education

Technology MOOC (Massive Open Online Course).

The focus of the literature review for this research proposal will encompass 21 st century skills

frameworks and myriad technology tools to enable the development of an appropriate and fit for

purpose online tool. The subsequent journal article will examine more explicitly its impact on the

study participants’ attitudes and abilities and the existence or not of the digital divide.

Literature Review

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My literature review will encompass related themes: 21st century frameworks, explorations around

technologies that assist the delivery of 21st century skills, as well as lecturer perceptions and skillsets

that may inhibit the adoption of these technology tools.

21st Century Frameworks

My initial literature review encompassed a study of the primary 21 st skills frameworks. My aim was

to ascertain skills that were common across all frameworks and use these as a basis for identifying

web 2.0 tools that could assist with skills building. This had to be a priority before I could begin to

think about resource/toolkit development and examine lecturer interactions with same.

A number of frameworks have evolved which specifically outline skills that are required of 21 st

Century Students.

The Center for 21st Century Skills details the below skills as key for survival for millennial students.

Information Literacy: the ability to find useful & reliable information Collaboration: working together to share, advocate and compromise on critical issues Creativity & innovation: exploration of imagination. Refining and improving original ideas Problem Solving: experimentation of new and familiar concepts while processing

information until a solution is found Communication: the ability to properly read, write, present and comprehend ideas or

varying mediums and audiences Responsible Citizenship: demonstration of proper technology use, global awareness & moral

judgementhttp://www.skills21.org

Very similar themes appear in articles produced by the Partnership for 21st Century Skills however it

also identifies the support system required to make this a reality.

Learning and Innovation Skills: Critical Thinking, communication, collaboration, creativity, innovation, contextual learning skills, the ability to use technology to develop 21st century knowledge & skills.

Information media & technology skills: information literacy, media literacy, ICT literacy Life & career skills Core subjects & 21st century themes

o Reading, arts, maths, science, foreign languages, civics, govt, economics, history & geography

http://www.p21.org

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An Australian group ATC21S led by the University of Melbourne and supported by Cisco, Intel and

Microsoft again espouses very similar skills and echoes the essentials of 21st century abilities called

for by P21 and Skills 21.

A direct comparison of these frameworks shows a remarkable alignment of thinking from groups

across the globe. Dede (2009) in his comparison of 21 st century frameworks avows P21’s framework

to be the most developed and widely accepted but cites the similarities across all. The skills common

across all frameworks are those of Creativity, Critical Thinking, Communication, Collaboration, ICT

literacy and Responsible Citizenship. It is worth noting that whilst the calls for 21st century skills have

been made in the last twenty years, Socrates alluded to these thinking skills 2000 years ago. These

are not new competences but have simply risen to prominence due to the giant leaps in technology

and communications.

Following this initial literature review, I propose to develop a resource highlighting technologies that

help to develop the 21st century skills of Communication and Collaboration. I have chosen these two

specific skills because they closely meet the requirements of the project I have been tasked to

undertake in NCI and the limited nature of this project prevents research on all identified skills. The

next task is to map to technology tools that may help to engender these skills and develop a

resource that will assist lecturers in using them, focussing not on the technology itself, but what

teachers and learners may be able to accomplish using these tools.

Technology Explorations

Based on research conducted in 2010, Lightle argues that technology use leads to the development

of 21st century skills. There is symmetry here with all my reading in the area of 21 st century

frameworks. Solomon & Schrum (2010) more specifically state that “the 21st century educator must

be a communicator, fluent in tools and technologies that enable communication and collaboration”.

This validates the importance of developing a Technology Toolkit to assist lecturers to develop these

particular skills.

Lightle’s paper, based on Andrew Churches’ work, begins to align specific technologies with Bloom’s

taxonomy and illustrates tools that can be used to generate the higher order thinking skills looked

for by the many 21st century frameworks. In a simple, yet comprehensive manner, Churches

(2007:2008) connected the verbs of Bloom’s Revised Taxonomy to a description of technology tools

to support the learning experience.

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Lightle introduces some of these verbs and a selection of applications that Churches advocates.

Churches wide-ranging list has personally been a voyage of discovery for me as I endeavour to

introduce technology into my classroom. The taxonomy allows educators to follow best pedagogical

practice and firstly plan for desired classroom experience then secondly choose an appropriate tool.

This article and Churches work is my starting point to connect the 21 st century skills of Collaboration,

and Communication with specific technology applications. Lightle advocates tools such as Glogster

and Prezi for communicating and presenting and Wikis and Voicethread as collaborative tools.

Potts et al list many of these same tools and discuss the rich potential for the creation of meaningful

learning environments with their use. They outline the benefits of building relevant and

collaborative experiences in the class for students that can be aligned with the skills required for the

outside workplace (2010). Pacansky-Brock concurs that the rise of technology use has changed

society to more participatory and collaborative model and that lecturers need to prepare students

for this paradigm shift (2013). She also argues that effectively integrating emerging technologies can

result in more engaged students who are active contributors to their own learning. Prezi, Twitter and

Wikis are tools specifically recommended by Pacansky-Brock to aid communication and

collaboration skills and enhance participatory learning.

Twitter as a tool is commanding much attention in our growing digital society. Dunlap and Lowenthal

write that Twitter allows students to share ideas, ask questions, and collaborate (2009). It has

proven to be particularly effective due to its persistence and commonality and has enabled the

extension of the classroom (via 140 characters) demonstrating itself to be an effective

communication medium. Its longer term potential is borne out through developing personal learning

networks which can sustain lifelong education.

Wikis have been heralded by many as a mechanism to allow rich, collaborative work among

students. Su and Beaumont (2010) identified many benefits to their use in Higher Education

including promotion of collaboration and feedback skills which in turn improved students’ abilities to

perform critical evaluation. Whilst they acknowledged some student concerns regarding privacy, this

was overcome by the potential value of the tool. Eggleston is also a proponent of the use of Wikis

and further adds that they have the ability to exercise most if not all of Bloom’s higher order thinking

skills.

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This literature review outlines just a small number of the preponderance of technology tools

available that may assist in the development of 21st Century skills. As the scope of the project will

not allow me to develop resources for all, I propose to include the following in my technology

toolkit:

Communication Skills Twitter

Collaboration Skills Wikis

The benefits of these tools are lauded in numerous publications and also align closely with the needs

identified within the NCI lecturer population by the Dean of Computing. A focus on a small number

of tools will enable the development of a rich and interactive resource which will include best

practice methodologies to roll out to my research participants.

The development and launch of the above resource will then enable me to research the reality of

the Digital Divide – the oft researched and discussed gap between the technical abilities and

perceptions of lecturers (digital immigrants) and students, the Net Generation (digital natives) which

was first outlined by Marc Prensky (2001). Will the lecturers in my study have difficulties in

assimilating the technologies, adapting their pedagogies and indeed their perceptions to integrate

these tools? Will this resource and ongoing professional development prove to be enablers? A

similar though larger scale research programme named Developing Digital Literacies is currently

being undertaken at the University of Reading by JISC due for completion in July 2013. Their baseline

report indicates that there is an ad-hoc usage of technology within the university which illustrates

the need to foster earlier, and broader, engagement with a range of technologies.

Recent Open University research debunks the idea that there is a clear cut divide between these

two populations but do agree that technology usage varies with age (2011). White and Le Cornu

propose an alternative framework of Digital Visitors and Residents to better define lecturer and

student engagement with technology. They argue for a continuum of practice rather than discrete

populations and suggest that that motivation and perceptions of usefulness and habituation within

digital settings may be a more accurate way of analysing learners and educators.

Stoerger (2009) argues that titles such as Immigrants and Natives are simplistic and in fact some

educators have been using technology for many years and have built up a considerable array of

skills. She puts forward the metaphor of a melting pot to illustrate the blending of individuals who

“speak with different technology tongues”. In fact, as we move further into the 21 st century even

Marc Prensky himself has begun to move away from the terms Immigrants and Natives to refer

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instead to Digital Wisdom which transcends generational distinctions. He states that we are moving

towards digital enhancement and that the digitally wise will seek out and embrace useful

technologies. Wheeler (2013) in a deliberately provocative Twitter post stated, “There are no digital

natives. There is no net generation. We are all in this together. That is all”. I hope that investigations

around the impact of my resource will provide an insight to this debate and uncover how far along

this continuum the participant group of lecturers has come.

Limitations

The limitations to my research include time scales and participation. Given the relatively short time

frame for the project, I will limit my resource to the examination of skills and technology tools

identified by the School of Computing (NCI) specifically examining the potential of Twitter

(communication) and Wikis (collaboration) in the classroom. The initiative will allow me to connect

this research to meet a real educational need whilst setting up a natural boundary to the case study

as there are many alternative technology tools that could have been considered..

A concern is whether I will have sufficient numbers of educators willing to participate in the research

and more importantly complete the study. Currently, the Director of Learning and Teaching

Excellence is happy to allow me to present a workshop on the topic and lead a programme to

promote technology tools in the School of Computing but take up on the part of the lecturers is not

guaranteed.

The limitations to this project however provide opportunity for further study in the future – to

extend the resource and provide training education around the remaining 21 st century skills

identified.

Ethical Considerations

I propose to follow the ethical guidelines as detailed on the DIT website. My proposal will detail fair

and honest research utilising transparent methods of collection and analysis. The participants of the

study will have given their informed consent in advance and any information derived from the study

will be stored in a sensitive and confidential manner. All resulting data will be encrypted and backed

up and used only for this particular study. . Any published data will ensure the anonymity of the

participants.

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As I propose to submit my article for publication to the peer reviewed journal Technology, Pedagogy

and Education which is the journal of the Association of Information Technology in Teacher

Education (ITTE), it is prudent to gain approval from the DIT Ethics Committee at this stage.

Timescales

The project will 10 months to complete fully from initial literature review and development of the

online resource through to the implementation and observation period and final article writeup. A

tentative timetable is outlined below.

Word Count: 3,649

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June 2014: Review of all items for submittal in satisfaction of the M. Sc. In Applied eLearning

May 2014: Final writeup of article

April 2014: Conclusion of study and collation of questionnaire and final interview data

March 2014: Preliminary writeup of article

February 2014: Observations and half way interviews

January 2014: Meet with prospective study participants . Workshop & questionnaires to start the study

December 2013: Completion and testing of learning resource

November 2013: Completion of literature review

October 2013: Design of questionnaire, trial run and review by tutor

September 2013: Start of resource design /development & literature review

August 2013: A well deserved break

June/July 2013: Feedback receipt and subsequent review of thesis proposal

May 28 2013: Research proposal completion and submittal

April 2013: Research Journal selection and review of submittal guidelines

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Appendices

Andrew Churches Digital Taxonomy

http://edorigami.wikispaces.com/file/view/bloom%27s%20Digital%20taxonomy

%20v3.01.pdf/65720266/bloom%27s%20Digital%20taxonomy%20v3.01.pdf

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Technology Integration Model

http://edorigami.wikispaces.com/LOTI

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